Popular Autumn Trees

Many trees are known for their vibrant autumn colours. Some of the most popular trees for autumn colour include:

• Maple trees: including the Sugar Maple, Red Maple, and Japanese Maple. These are known for their brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow.
• Oak trees: including the Pin Oak, Northern Red Oak, and Scarlet Oak, are known for their vibrant orange and red leaves.
• Dogwood trees: are known for their bright red and purple leaves.
• Aspen trees: known for their shimmering yellow leaves and quaking habit.
• Birch trees: including the River Birch and Paper Birch, are known for their golden yellow leaves.
• Ginkgo trees: are known for their distinctive fan-shaped leaves that turn a brilliant yellow in autumn.
• Sassafras trees: are known for their bright orange and yellow leaves.

While we live in a land of gum trees, many traditional gardens in Victoria over autumn are still awash with colour in autumn.

Autumn Gardens to visit

I posted on autumn gardens back in 2020, but the list has since grown to include the following:

• The Gardens of St Erth: 189 Simmons Reef Road, Blackwood, Victoria. The gardens are just 16 mins from Trentham Falls, so you can get autumn colours and waterfalls that day.
• Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens, formerly known as the National Rhododendron Gardens: The Georgian Road, Olinda
• Forest Glade Gardens, located in Mount Macedon, is a stunning location in autumn for a breathtaking display of autumnal foliage.
• Burnley Botanic Garden: This is known for its autumn gardens, including the beautiful Japanese garden.
• Andrie Park, Malvern: Ardrie Park in Malvern boasts elm trees that are over 100 years old.
• Williamstown Botanic Gardens feature a variety of deciduous trees that put on a brilliant display of autumn colour, with leaves turning red, orange, and yellow shades.
• Maroondah Reservoir Park: The trees create a brilliant display of oranges, yellows, and reds in autumn. Also within the park is the Rose Stairway, lined with roses and other flowering plants. It also usually has a carpet of autumn leaves on it, making the stairway a great image.
• Arthurs Seat State Park: Located in Arthurs Seat, it covers 84 acres and is set on a hilltop with panoramic views of the surrounding area and the autumn foliage of the trees.
• Kyneton Botanic Gardens: established in 1858,  has many European trees that are an explosion of colour in autumn.

Get the complete list

No list is complete without mention of Honour Avenue, Mount Macedon. The avenue is lined with Pin Oak trees and honours the 154 men and women from the Mount Macedon area who fought in WWI. It’s a massive drawcard over autumn, so much so that they put temporary traffic measures in place. Therefore, it’s best to avoid going on weekends. Try to get there before 9 am as they close the road at 9 am during autumn.

The complete list of gardens from this post and the previous one is available for download in pdf format HERE.

Lenses for autumn photography

The best lens for autumn photography depends on the type of photos you want to take and your photography style. However, my favourites to carry with me are:

Wide-angle lens: A wide-angle lens is excellent for capturing autumn’s grand vistas and sweeping landscapes.

Zoom lens: A zoom lens provides versatility and allows you to capture a range of focal lengths. This makes it a good option for taking wide and close-up shots of autumn scenery.

Macro lens: A macro lens is ideal for close-up shots of autumn leaves, berries, and other small details.

Telephoto lens: A telephoto lens is perfect for capturing distant autumn landscapes. Additionally, its great for compressing the depth of field and separating the foreground from the background.

Settings for autumn photography

No one setting will be perfect across all conditions, and you will naturally need to adjust for available light. For example, while autumn is usually not as windy as spring – wind still needs to be factored into the shutter speed to avoid blur.

Aperture

 The aperture controls the field depth and can isolate autumn leaves and other details in the foreground or background. A small aperture (e.g., f/16) will give you a large depth of field and keep more of the scene in focus. Conversely, a large aperture (e.g., f/2.8) will provide you with a shallow depth of field and create a blurred background. Thus making the autumn leaves stand out more.

Shutter speed

Shutter speed determines the amount of light that enters the camera and can affect the sharpness of the image. If you’re shooting in low light, you may need to use a slower shutter speed to let more light in. Conversely, a faster shutter speed may be necessary to avoid overexposure if you’re shooting in bright sunlight.

ISO

ISO determines the camera’s sensitivity to light and can affect the image’s graininess. For autumn photography, a lower ISO (e.g., 100-400) is usually best to keep the image sharp and reduce grain.

White balance

White balance affects the image’s colour temperature and can be set to match the scene’s lighting conditions. For example, for autumn photography, a warmer white balance setting enhances the colours of the autumn leaves. With this in mind set your white balance to ‘shade’ or ‘cloudy’. However, if you shoot RAW, your WB can always be adjusted in post-processing.

Filters

A circular polarizing filter (CPL) is very useful. It can intensify the colours of autumn leaves and sky while getting rid of unwanted glare and reflections from different surfaces. With a CPL, you can achieve more vibrant and richer colours in your pictures. However, using a CPL will cut out around 1-2 stops of light, so you will need to adjust your shutter speed.

When using a CPL for autumn photography, it’s best to have the sun at a 90-degree angle from your subject. This means that the sun should be to the subject’s side rather than directly in front or behind it. Having the sun at a 90-degree angle will allow the CPL to effectively reduce glare and reflections on the leaves, sky, and other surfaces.

Additionally,  you can rotate the filter to control the amount of polarization, affecting the colours’ intensity. For example, a strong polarization effect can make the autumn leaves and sky appear darker and more saturated. In contrast, a weak polarization effect can create a more natural and subtle effect.

Backlit images

Backlighting your autumn subjects can create dramatic and visually striking images. The sun shining through the autumn leaves will illuminate the colours and details. When shooting a backlit photo, avoiding the midday sun is essential. Shooting in the golden hour will give you much better results with the lower light. Using a tripod to ensure sharpness in your images is also necessary. As you shoot into the light,  the camera may underexpose the image due to the sun’s brightness. Use your camera’s exposure compensation to adjust the exposure and capture the correct brightness level.

Using a lens hood can help to prevent lens flare and keep the sun from entering the lens, which can cause bright spots and reduce the contrast in your images. Try shooting from different angles to capture the backlit leaves uniquely and creatively. For example, you can shoot from below the trees, looking up at the sun shining through the leaves, or from a higher angle, looking down at the leaves with the sun shining behind them.

The post Autumn in Victoria: A Guide to Capturing Its Colours appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.